


Iced Coffee

by luciferwearsprada



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Bad Jokes, College, Dogs, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Pining, Swearing, Yuri Plisetsky is 18, more tags to come, this is the coffee shop au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luciferwearsprada/pseuds/luciferwearsprada
Summary: The Coffee Shop AU No One Asked For™ In which Yuuri and Phichit work at the Yu-topia coffee shop, Viktor loves Yuuri's cookies (that's not a euphemism), Guang Hong is a sweet cinnamon roll, JJ is that one hetero friend, and Otabek terrifies almost everyone.Also known as Why Are There So Many Attractive Men In This Coffee Shop All Of A Sudden.





	1. The One with the Noodles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help I've fallen in love with this anime and I can't get up 
> 
> My first fanfic for YOI, and I am super pumped!! I hope you guys are a lil bit pumped too <3 
> 
> Please excuse any mistakes that I missed, I was too excited about posting this to re-read it a billion times <3 <3
> 
> Word count: 1412

Chemistry was a hard subject to concentrate on. Things were made of things, and medicines were made of very specific things, and if any one of these things was wrong medicine could turn into poison. At least, that was what Yuuri gathered from the text he’d been trying to read for the past half hour. It wasn’t even very new material, but the amount of chemical equations and long, confusing words made it very difficult to concentrate.

Yuuri barely looked up from his homework when his best friend came home and more or less collapsed on their couch.

“I’m dead,” Phichit announced. “D-e-a-d. I have never been deader.”

“That bad?” Yuuri pushed up his glasses and highlighted another passage of text.

“A giant group of high school freshmen.”

“Yikes.” With a sympathetic glance in his roommate’s direction, Yuuri turned his chair around. “Want to talk about it?”

“No, I just want to sleep.”

“Come on, where is the happy Phichit?”

“He had to deal with a bunch of entitled 9th graders who see themselves as adults today.” Phichit looked up. “They all thought they could handle our strongest black coffee. I’m honestly surprised nobody died. One of them almost threw up in the bathroom.”

Holding back a soft laugh, Yuuri rolled over to the other and patted his head. “Did my parents at least give you a hug?”

“They did. I am never covering a shift for you again, Yuu.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know, I know.” Sighing, Phichit sat up and flipped his hair back dramatically. “I’ll be myself again once you’ve made me some noodles.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. “You would not lie about all of this just for noodles.”

“It wasn’t a lie!” Phichit pouted. “You know I’d never lie to you! It’s just that your noodles are so incredibly good that they always cheer me up even though I’ll get really fat if I eat more of them!”

Compliments, no matter how unusual, always got to him. Sighing, he got up and pushed his chair back in, then made his way to their small kitchen and pulled out everything he needed to make Phichit’s favorite noodles. Said man shouted some more compliments for good measure (“Your noodles are like heaven” and “I love your new glasses, you look so cute”), and Yuuri gave up on feigning annoyance. Instead, he smiled and hummed quietly to himself as the water began to boil.

“By the way,” Phichit said some time later when the food was almost ready, “we had a new customer today who absolutely adored your cookies. You know, the dog-shaped ones?”

“Oh? That’s great, do you think they’ll come back?”

“Definitely, because I told him the genius behind those cookies would be working lunch shift tomorrow.”

For a few moments, Yuuri was silent, the only sound in the apartment the water as he drained the noodles. “Are you trying to set me up?”

“No! No, no, no! I mean, the guy was attractive, but since that mess last time… I’ve learned my lesson.”

_That mess last time_ was also known as that one time Phichit decided Yuuri needed a date and it all went very wrong. As a matter of fact, the date had been a rather nice guy, until at the end of the evening he’d said that he was “just not gay”. Needless to say, that put a damper on any want Yuuri had felt towards going out. Of course Phichit had apologized multiple times (though it really wasn’t his fault; the guy had told him that he was into guys), but he also understood that his best friend probably wouldn’t be in the mood to get set up again.

“If you think he’s attractive, why don’t you go after him?” Carefully, Yuuri arranged the noodles on two plates and made sure both of them had equal amounts of vegetables and sauce.

“He’s… _too_ attractive. Like a model or something.”

Yuuri laughed as he brought out the food. “And you think it’s a good idea for me to meet this guy?” He put the plates down on the table and sat down, watching as Phichit stood up to get them cutlery and drinks from the kitchen.

“He seems nice,” Phichit said as he set everything down and let himself fall onto his chair. “He’ll forgive you if you’re unable to form sentences around him.”

That earned him a smack on the head.

They ate in a comfortable silence, as usual, quietly contemplating whatever came to their mind. Yuuri’s thoughts drifted to the work he still had to do to prepare for his next biology exam, whilst Phichit wasn’t worried about college at all and instead thought about what he would’ve done today if he was allowed to be mean to customers. It involved flicking a 13-year-old’s forehead and posting it on Instagram.

He loved working at the Yu-topia Coffee Shop, owned by Yuuri’s parents, and the money wasn’t bad at all, but sometimes… sometimes customers made him want to hurt things. And he was, as their friend Leo liked to say, one of the most cheerful people in the world, always positive and always hoping for the best. That didn’t mean he couldn’t get _extremely_ annoyed when the right switch was flipped. Usually people knew better than to do that, but 14-year-olds did not belong to that group of people.

“Please don’t hurt that fork,” Yuuri said, sipping his water.

Phichit glanced down at the way he was gripping the fork and let it fall onto his plate with a laugh. “Kids these days will make you this aggressive. Let’s just hope they won’t come back tomorrow, Yuu~”

“I hope so too, you know I suck at dealing with annoying people.” Whilst Phichit had the problem of controlling his emotions in that case, Yuuri had the problem of shrinking back and generally being an awkward, anxious mess until the people finally left him alone.

Which was why he was studying at a veterinarian school. He was way better with animals than people, and though it was incredibly stressful, he loved every moment and was genuinely interested in the material.

“You have an exam coming up, right?” Phichit ate some more and Yuuri nodded.

“Yeah, I hope Mari will be able to work next week, otherwise someone’s gonna have to cover for me again… because I really can’t screw this one up.”

“As if you’ve screwed up an important exam before.”

“Each one could be the first!”

Phichit rolled his eyes with a small grin and finished his food, then waited until his roommate was done as well to carry the plates back into the kitchen. “You’ll do great, Yuu.”

“If you say so.” Yuuri smiled and went back to his homework. He did only have to read one text, but during the time that it took them to eat he still hadn’t gotten better at chemistry. “Do you still have work to do?” Their apartment wasn’t very big; they did manage to get separate bedrooms but only had space for one proper desk. Usually they tried to coordinate so that whoever had the most work would get the desk, and the other person would work at the table.

“Yes, but just a little bit and nothing due tomorrow,” Phichit called from the kitchen as he washed the dishes. “I just have to analyze some slogans and ad designs, I can do that in like five minutes.”

“Good, then I don’t have to feel bad about hogging the desk. When’s your next exam?”

“Three days after yours, I think.”

Yuuri nodded. “I’ll see if I can work some more so you can study.”

“Don’t overwork yourself, Yuu.” Phichit peeked out of the kitchen and sent his best friend a stern gaze. “Once you’re done with your exam, you’re going to sleep. And I’ll call Guang Hong and ask him if you can borrow his bathtub or something.”

Laughing, Yuuri closed his book. “Will you buy me a bath bomb?

“Now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves~ I will if you take dramatic pictures of it so I can post them on my Instagram.”

“Deal.”

“And I either get to claim them as mine or caption them with the fact that I’m the world’s best best friend for buying it for you.”

“Whatever you want, Phich.”

“I love you.” Phichit blew Yuuri a kiss and the other grinned and shook his head fondly.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give me life and the motivation to write more <3
> 
> If you have any ideas/constructive criticism/emotions you wanna share/??? please tell me either here or hmu on my tumblr @[not-into-frying-pans](http://not-into-frying-pans.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you for reading~ <3


	2. The One with the Russians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who else is up for season 2!!! Honestly I wanted to upload this earlier but after episode 12 I had to take a short break to deal with all of my emotions.
> 
> Added Leo/Guang Hong to the tags because I adore my lovely cinnamon rolls, they are the cutest (and I'm considering doing a couple of one-shots, maybe with them?)
> 
> Once again, please excuse any mistakes I overlooked <3
> 
> Word count: 1611 (I'm getting better)

As far as Yuuri was concerned, sleep was supposed to be something to relax you and leave you feeling refreshed and rested in the morning.

Unfortunately for him, that was almost never the case. He had barely managed to not fall asleep during the three classes he had today, and now that he was in the coffee shop it wasn’t getting much easier.

“Excuse me,” a voice said and Yuuri jerked his head up with a smile in an attempt to seem awake.

He was about to say something, but the words died in his throat. His tired brain was trying to somehow figure out what to do now that a man who looked like _that_ was standing in front of him.

Said man smiled and tilted his head. “Hello?”

Yuuri was more focused on the way the other’s hair moved than anything else. “Um,” he managed to say a short eternity later, “yes?”

The smile on the stranger’s face grew, to the point where Yuuri felt like it could blind him. “I was here yesterday, and I had some of those delicious dog-shaped cookies.”

_Right. Phichit had told him._ “Ah yes, um, I made those.”

“You did!” It looked like the stranger was about to reach across the counter to grab Yuuri’s arm. “I have to say, you are an absolute genius, they were so delicious! Did you study baking or something?”

“N-no… I’m actually studying to be a vet, but my parents own this place, so…” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Handsome Stranger’s eyes sparkled. “A vet? That’s so noble!”

“I… thank you…”

“Viktor!”

The stranger - Viktor - turned around as a tall, blond man with unusually long lashes approached him. “Chris,” he said, sounding slightly irritated.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.” Chris stopped next to Viktor and gave Yuuri a once-over, then smirked. “Oh? Busy, I see.”

Yuuri was about to say something to make sure no one here was thinking he was flirting while on the job, but Viktor beat him to it. “Busy trying to get the recipe for those delicious cookies, yes.”

“Of course.” There was no way Chris could have sounded less sincere. “You’ll have to try again, sadly, there’s someone waiting at your apartment and I don’t think you can afford to leave him waiting much longer.”

For a few moments, Viktor looked confused, then he sighed defeatedly and turned to Yuuri again. “What days do you work?”

“I-I’ll be here Thursday, same time,” Yuuri answered, still overwhelmed.

“Perfect.” Viktor smiled that million dollar smile again. “I’ll see you then, Yuuri.”

It was difficult enough to nod without blushing, and impossible to not stare at Viktor as he left.

“Who was _that_?!”

Yuuri whirled around, clutching his chest. One of his co-workers, Sara, had her eyebrows raised and a wide grin on her lips.

“I… his name is Viktor, I think… he likes the cookies I made, the dog ones.”

“Looked to me like that’s not all he likes~” Sara teased and lightly pushed him aside. “How about I talk to the next few customers and you make the coffee? That’ll give you some time to stop blushing.”

Yuuri really, _really_ wanted to deny blushing, but he knew he was still red to the tips of his ears. “Fine,” he mumbled and shuffled over, giving Sara the space behind the counter.

She immediately had to talk to a new customer, who only wanted water and a cake, which let Yuuri space out again. Except this time he wasn’t daydreaming about his bed or sleep or a world without lab work and exams, but about how on earth he’d survive seeing Viktor again. Who would be here Thursday. In two days. The day after the biology exam. When Yuuri would be even more of a mess than he was right now.

With a deep sigh, he slid the cake and water over onto the counter for the customer to receive. _I’ll see you then, Yuuri_ , Viktor had said, so there was really no way Yuuri could get out of that situation.

_Wait._

Yuuri grabbed Sara's arm once the customer was gone. “Sara,” he said, voice shaking slightly, “Sara, I’m not wearing my name tag, right? I forgot it at home, _right_?”

“Yes?” She blinked. “I don’t know if you forgot it at home, but you’re not wearing it.”

_I’ll see you then, Yuuri_ , Viktor had said.

“How on earth does he know my name?!”

It took the combined effort of Phichit and Guang Hong to sit Yuuri down on the park bench. Leo was deep in thought, eyebrows furrowed.

“Maybe he heard someone saying it?” he guessed, leaning back comfortably. “One of the others... your parents, maybe.”

“I don’t know… I don’t know if he was there when they were talking to me.”

“Then that’s not it,” Phichit decided. “You would’ve known if he was there. I mean, you’ve seen the man, right? Hard to overlook.”

Leo nodded slowly. “I’m getting more and more curious about this guy. What did you say his name was?”

“Viktor,” Yuuri answered, having somewhat calmed down. It helped that Guang Hong was patting his back. “I think he’s Russian? He had a little bit of an accent.”

“And he just showed up, complimented your cookies and now he wants to see you again?”

“Yes! I don’t get it!”

Guang Hong pursed his lips. “Maybe he was sort of like a secret admirer? Not leaving notes or anything, but maybe he’s found you attractive for a while now?”

“I haven’t seen him before, though.”

“Me neither,” Phichit said. “You all know what this means, right? We have a mission: Find out who The Attractive Russian Man is! Step one would be finding out his last name. And maybe people he knows?”

“There was some other guy there, too.”

That caught the attention of the other three. Guang Hong stopped patting Yuuri’s back and instead leaned against Leo, tilting his head. “Who?”

“His name is Chris, but that’s also all I know. Tall, blond, really long eyelashes?” Yuuri shook his head. “Not exactly much help either.”

“It gives us something to work with, though.” Phichit gave Yuuri one of his signature bright smiles, the ones that could make your whole day better.

It worked this time as well. Yuuri let his head fall back, but he was smiling and feeling significantly less anxious about the whole situation. The friends’ conversation moved away from Viktor and to other things, to Leo’s newest song, to Guang Hong’s current follower count, to Phichit’s pregnant hamster. It was comfortable and warm and familiar, and Yuuri didn’t think about Viktor for the rest of the afternoon.

They tried to get together like this as often as they could, but it wasn’t always possible. With all their deadlines and work and homework and exams it was hard to find time to relax, much less time where all four of them could relax. Leo studied music production and worked as a DJ, so his evenings were usually booked. Most of the time, Guang Hong was too stressed or busy for anything since he was in his second year of studying law and it required a _lot_ of effort.

So they were usually in pairs. Leo and Guang Hong lived together as well, and since both Phichit and Guang Hong were never seen without their phones out, the four of them were always kept up-to-date with everything.

Still, late afternoons like this, even with the chilly breeze and the gray darkness of winter, were almost therapeutic for them. Especially for Yuuri, who was a ball of anxiety and needed people to keep him calm at times.

“I think Yuu fell asleep,” Phichit joked.

Yuuri made a noise in the back of his throat and opened his eyes. “Only almost.” He sat up and glanced at his phone to check the time. “But I gotta go now. I sadly can't absorb all the information for my exam via osmosis.”

“Good luck!” Leo crossed his fingers. “We’re rooting for you.”

“Don’t forget to get enough rest tonight~” Guang Hong added cheerfully.

“I won't, I won’t! You don’t have to worry so much.” Yuuri laughed and stood up, Phichit joining him. They waved goodbye to their friends and began walking towards their apartment building.

On their way, they briefly stopped at a corner store to buy some energy drinks (Yuuri very rarely drank them, but a sip or two before an exam usually helped him stay awake) and some more milk (both were very serious about cereal). Phichit casually chatted with the cashier, and then they were on their way again.

They'd almost reached the building when Phichit suddenly stopped.

Confused, Yuuri followed his roommate’s line of sight and saw him.

Viktor was walking down the street wearing a fashionable trench coat, followed by a young man with long, blond hair. They seemed to be arguing about something, but the few words Yuuri could make out were in Russian.

“Who do you think that is?” Phichit asked slowly.

Yuuri shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s go inside, it’s getting late.”

For the rest of the evening, Yuuri did his best to shove any and all images of a certain attractive Russian out of his head. Instead, he focused on reviewing his notes and flashcards, quietly murmuring the words to himself.

Phichit eventually dragged him to bed with a mug of hot milk and honey to ensure that Yuuri would actually get some rest tonight.

He stayed up a little longer, watching youtube videos and playing with his hamsters, and couldn't help but wonder what the hell his best friend had gotten into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll see when I get the next chapter up since Christmas is A Thing and I'll probably be busy with family and such, but I'll do my best not to keep you waiting!
> 
> Comments give me life and the motivation to write more <3
> 
> Do feel free to hmu on my tumblr @[not-into-frying-pans](http://not-into-frying-pans.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. The One where Viktor says "I'll call you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, sorry that I didn't get this up as soon as I wanted to, but it turns out holidays are hectic and school starts again on Monday ;n;
> 
> I'm posting this at almost 6AM and I haven't slept yet, so there might be some mistakes!
> 
> Word count: 1856

“So where is Loverboy?” Minami lounged on one of the chairs, watching as Yuuri placed the coffee in front of him.  
 ****

Yuuri sighed. “He’ll be here soon. Don’t be weird, okay?”

“So, let me get this straight. You’ve seen him once, it lasted about two minutes, and now you’re worried about impressing him?” Minami whistled. “Just how hot is this guy?”

“I saw him too!” Phichit called from behind the counter, ignoring the looks from some of the other customers. “He’s very hot and not an asshole.”

“Okay yeah, you’re in trouble.” With a wink in Yuuri’s direction, Minami took a sip of his coffee.

“You guys are the worst.” Yuuri shook his head, though he couldn’t hold back a smile, and walked back behind the counter.

It got later and later, and Yuuri’s shift was nearing its end. There weren’t that many customers in at the moment, and he nervously chewed on his pencil. Phichit occasionally said something encouraging and Minami hadn’t left yet, but that didn’t stop Yuuri from becoming more and more anxious.

His thoughts were interrupted by a bark, and a familiar voice saying “calm down, Maccachin”. He glanced up and saw Viktor taking off his trench coat, a dog at his feet. It was wagging its tail and seemed eager to explore the coffee shop.

“Yuuri.” Viktor’s blinding smile was back and he walked up to the other, leaning against the counter. “Sorry I’m late, there was some drama~ How are you?”

“Good,” Yuuri managed to say, once again overwhelmed by Viktor’s sudden, casual appearance. “I wrote an exam yesterday.”

“Oh, how did it go?”

“Okay, I think… I mean, I answered all the questions, now I just have to hope I wrote down things that make sense.”

Viktor laughed, and Phichit came out from the back. “Oh, hi!” he called out. “I’m Phichit, Yuuri’s roommate and best friend!”

“I remember you,” Viktor replied with a smile, “you were here the first day I tried Yuuri’s cookies.”

“Yep, that’s me!” Phichit nodded in the direction of the boy watching them with interest. “And that’s Minami, he and Yuuri went to the same school in Japan.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” And just like that, Viktor had somehow managed to charm the two of them. Yuuri could only stare in amazement. “Now, Yuuri. Might I have a latte macchiato and more of those delicious cookies?”

“Of course!” A little embarrassed at how high his voice had gotten, Yuuri hurried to complete the order whilst Minami and Phichit fawned over Viktor’s dog.

“His name is Maccachin,” Viktor explained as he sat down. “He’s a good boy.”

“Such a good boy!” Minami exclaimed, playing with Maccachin’s ears. “Does he know any tricks?”

“He does!” By now, Viktor was beaming with pride. “Maccachin, sit!”

Obediently, the dog sat.

Viktor held out his hand, and Maccachin placed his paw on Viktor’s palm.

Phichit and Minami squealed.

Meanwhile, Yuuri was hurrying to finish Viktor’s order, almost spilling the coffee in the process, and finally managed to place everything on the table.

“Thank you, Yuuri,” Viktor said in the softest voice.

“You’re welcome,” Yuuri breathed, holding on to the table when his legs started feeling suspiciously wobbly.

As Viktor began eating the cookies, Phichit and Minami snuck behind the counter, taking Maccachin with them to continue petting the fluffy dog. Yuuri was _very_ aware of his friends abandoning him, but knew there was nothing he could do about it.

“Please, sit.”

Almost instinctively, Yuuri did as Viktor said and sat down next to the Russian man.

Viktor smiled. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah…” Deciding to go for honesty, Yuuri said, “I’m just… trying to figure out what exactly is happening. I mean, it’s not every day I have an attractive man eating my cookies.” When he realized how that sounded, and saw Viktor’s grin, he flushed bright red. “Not like that! That’s not what I meant! I just—”

“Don’t worry, Yuuri, I understand.” Yuuri noticed that Viktor’s smile looked a lot like a heart and blushed some more as the other continued talking. “I wish I could’ve talked to you more the other day, but like I said, drama happened…”

“What kind of drama?”

“A friend of mine needs a place to stay, and showed up at my apartment without warning.” Viktor let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. “He can be quite rude.”

“A friend?” _The guy from the street?_ There was no way Yuuri could ask that question without making it sound like he was stalking Viktor, so he decided against it. “What friend?”

“His name is Yuri too, isn’t that funny? He’s only eighteen, but already has most of his life planned out.”

A smile crossed Yuuri’s lips. “Sounds a lot different from me… I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing until my second year of vet school.”

“I think it’s amazing that you’re studying to be a vet.” Viktor took a sip of his coffee and rested his hand on Yuuri’s arm. “Oh, how about you give me your number?”

“My— my number?” Yuuri sputtered, still staring down at where his arm was on the table, Viktor’s fingers tapping it lightly. “Um… sure, but why?”

“Why?” That seemed to amuse Viktor; there was a glint in his eyes. “Because I am enjoying talking to you, and would like to do it more often? Besides, if Maccachin gets a cold or something you can tell me what to do!”

“I… I’d like that, yeah.”

“Perfect!”

As Viktor pulled out his phone for Yuuri to input his number, Phichit threw a small, balled-up paper at his best friend’s head. Flushed once again, Yuuri turned to see Phichit give him a thumbs-up and disappear behind the counter to continue petting Maccachin.

“Yuuri?”

“Yes! Sorry!”

Viktor smiled warmly and watched Yuuri. “Nothing to apologize for. Your friends seem to really care for you, it’s cute.”

“I really care for them too.” Yuuri handed the phone back to Viktor and was acutely aware of their fingers brushing.

“I’d like to meet your other friends someday.”

Feeling a sudden surge of boldness, Yuuri rested his chin on his hand and scooted a tiny bit closer. “I’d like to meet yours too. And… can you call me? So that I have your number too.”

This seemed to please Viktor, who smirked in return. “They’re quite a chaotic bunch, but I’d love that.”

The moment, if it even was a moment, perhaps Yuuri was just imagining it, passed when Yuuri’s phone began ringing. He smiled at Viktor, a little shyer than before, and saved the number under _Vicchan_ (a fact which the Russian wouldn’t find out until later).

“There you go~ You can text me anytime you like, but if I’m in a meeting I won’t be able to answer.”

“Meeting?”

“Meeting.” Viktor nodded. “I work for a… well, rather large company. It’s not always fun, but it’s good money.” He grinned. “Ah, but listen to me bragging, tell me more about yourself.”

“More about me? You’ve hardly told me anything about you,” Yuuri teased, surprising himself.

“Alright then.” The grin on Viktor’s lips only grew. “My name is Viktor Nikiforov, I’m from Saint Petersburg in Russia, I love dogs and have a thing for interior design, by which I mean I rearrange my apartment about five times a month.” He finished drinking his coffee and raised an eyebrow. “Your turn.”

Yuuri cleared his throat. “Alright, um… well, my full name is Katsuki Yuuri, I was born and raised in Hasetsu but moved here for college, where I met Phichit. I… I’m also more of a dog person, though I love all animals, and my parents technically pay my rent since this is their coffee shop.”

This made Viktor laugh, and the sound caused something in Yuuri’s stomach to flutter. “Ah, I wish I could continue talking to you like this, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

Both flattered and confused, Yuuri tried to start multiple sentences, but none got past the first word.

Long fingers held his chin, and a thumb ran along his lower lip.

“I’m sorry, Yuuri, but I should pay now.”

Everything inside Yuuri was screaming _no, don’t go, I want to get to know you_ , but he was too entranced to say anything, much less move. How on earth did this happen, and how come it happened so fast? His anxiety was still there, no doubt, but being around Viktor was _comfortable_ , though every moment seemed like an adventure.

And he’d talked to the man _twice._ What on earth was happening to him?

Somehow, eventually he pushed the thoughts away and hurried to the cash register, almost tripping over Minami. The younger was on the ground, playing with Maccachin. Both he and Phichit got up and said goodbye to Viktor, though they didn’t manage to hide their grins and giggles. They were a little reluctant about letting Maccachin back out, but did anyway after Viktor promised they’d get to see him again.

“I very much enjoyed this, though I wish I could’ve stayed longer.” Viktor’s smile was infectious. “You three have a wonderful evening. And Yuuri!” he added as he walked out the door, Maccachin by his side, “I’ll call you!”

The door closed behind him and Minami immediately whirled around to grab Yuuri’s shoulders. “ _He’ll call you?_ ”

“He has my number,” Yuuri squeaked. “I have his?”

Phichit applauded. “I am so proud of you. So, so proud. I can’t believe you did it.”

“I didn’t do anything, it was all him!”

“Yuuri, we saw and heard everything. You flirted, and you weren’t bad at it! And you told him to call you, and now he will!”

“You understand that I have to tell your entire family, right?”

“Minami!” But Yuuri was laughing, shaking his head. “You guys are the worst.”

Phichit grinned widely and ruffled Yuuri’s hair. “We love you too. Good thing it’s late enough for no customers to have witnessed this blossoming romance~ Come on, let’s close this place up.”

As he wiped down the tables and threw away the trash, Yuuri remembered that he still didn’t know how Viktor knew his name.

He had to tell the story of Viktor asking for his number and then touching his face about ten times that evening.

With a sigh, he moved to turn off his phone. It was late already, and Phichit was going over some things for his exam in two days. Yuuri had gone to bed earlier, but with everyone he knew calling him it was difficult to get some sleep.

_You guys…_

Yes, it was rare for Yuuri to express interest in anyone, and even rarer for that person also to express interest in Yuuri, which was why the entire Katsuki family and all its friends were very excited. Unfortunately, this also meant expectations, and if there was one thing Yuuri hated more than anything it was having to live up to those.

Right before he finally switched his phone off, he got one last message.

 

_[Vicchan - 11:39PM]_

_Dream about me~_

 

And he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments give me life and the motivation to write more <3
> 
> If you'd like to, feel free to talk to me on tumblr [@not-into-frying-pans](http://not-into-frying-pans.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, I really do hope you enjoyed it!


	4. The One with the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I AM ALIVE
> 
> at least for now, my first final exam is next Tuesday cries
> 
> I actually wanted to update this before March.... which clearly didn't work
> 
> But now it's here! It hasn't been beta'd or anything (like always) so please excuse any small mistakes, and enjoy!
> 
> Word count: 2414 (1002 more than the first chapter I'm so proud of myself ;u;)

It got to the point that Phichit filled Mari in on everything.

“Remember that hot Russian guy I told you about?” he asked one evening, lounging on the couch as he skyped with her.

“Viktor something, yes.”

“And how Yuuri has his phone number?”

“A feat that surprised many.”

Phichit laughed. “They’ve been talking, like… all the time. But Yuuri almost never calls him, it’s mainly just texts.”

In Japan, Mari shrugged. “You know my brother, he’s probably too intimidated to hear the guy’s voice.”

“That’s a good point.” He pursed his lips and rolled onto his back. “But they’re talking _so much_. Yuuri always comes up to me and shows me pictures he got from him.”

“Are you worried he’s spending more time with Viktor than with you?”

“No! No, of course not. We still have our regular hang-outs with Leo and Guang Hong, and nothing’s really changed between Yuuri and me. I guess I’m just worried about Yuuri, you know? He was so opposed to dating after that whole fiasco with Mr. I’m-Just-Not-Gay, and…”

Mari interrupted him. “Phich, worrying about Yuuri is my job, not yours. I’m the big sister.”

“You never admit you’re worried about him,” Phichit teased with a smile. ”And he never admits he worries about you too, but I know he does.”

“Well tell him there’s nothing to worry about. And I’ll come visit as soon as I get my boss to give me some time off, okay?”

“Okay.” He glanced up to see Yuuri, who’d just come home, brush snow off his shoulder. “Your brother’s here, want to say hi?”

“Fiiinee,” Mari drawled, but Phichit still saw her smile. “Brother dearest, come here.”

Once he’d kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat, Yuuri plopped down on the couch and waved at the webcam. “Hey look, you’re alive!”

Phichit set the laptop down on the coffee table and messed up Yuuri’s hair. “You kids play nice, I’ll go order us some pizza.” A devious grin played on his lips as he looked through the take-out menus they’d collected. “Hey Yuu, does Viktor like pizza?”

“Hm? Yeah he does, he likes the ones with really weird toppings.”

“You could write a book about this guy,” Mari said, prompting her brother to blush furiously. “How often have you two actually met?”

“Well…” Yuuri chewed on his lower lip, immediately nervous now that Viktor was mentioned. “Okay, we’ve met… twice? But we talk to each other a lot, and…”

“And you have feelings for him.”

Yuuri nodded and felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders. He’d admitted his attraction to Viktor, but he hadn’t gone any further than that yet. Considering the 3am conversations they had though, it was obvious that there was _something_ there, even though Yuuri had no idea what that _something_ was. Viktor was always so suave and relaxed and made Yuuri stutter and squeak like he was back in middle school.

“Yuu!” Phichit’s voice snapped Yuuri out of his thoughts. “The pizza’s gonna be here in about half an hour.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat and looked back at his sister, who was now on the balcony, smoking. “I don’t know how he feels about me, though.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Phichit snorted. “He obviously likes you too.”

“But why? He could have literally anyone, so why would he…”

Mari sighed softly, smoke briefly covering the camera and making her look like a silhouette in the fog. “Stop. I know you doubt yourself, and I know that your anxiety will always be there, but you need to understand that not everyone views you the same way you do. You may think you’re not good enough, but from what Phichit’s told me this Viktor guy has a huge thing for you.” Yuuri was about to say something, but Mari signaled him to be quiet. “Listen, you’re my brother and I would never lie to you, so believe me when I say that you should go out there and get that attractive Russian guy. Now go, I have to head out to work anyway.”

Unable to stop himself, Yuuri smiled and gave the camera a wave. “Don’t be late, who knows how long they’ll put up with you.”

“Ha ha.” Mari smiled back. “Bye, Phichit!”

“Bye~” Phichit sang, plopping down on the couch and giving the camera finger guns, prompting Mari to roll her eyes as she ended the call.

The pizza arrived ten minutes early.

“You should go on a date with Viktor,” Phichit said after his fifth piece.

Yuuri almost choked.

Phichit handed him the bottle of coke and continued talking, “I’m just saying, if you want to find out what his feelings for you are, then go out with him and ask! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He could hear me.”

“Yuuri.”

“I could _die_.”

“ _Yuuri_.”

Groaning, Yuuri buried his face in one of the couch’s pillows. “I’m bad at talking to attractive people.”

“I won’t lie to you: that hurt.” Phichit placed one of his hands over his heart dramatically and closed his eyes. “That hurt a lot.”

He promptly got elbowed in the side by his best friend. “You know what I mean.”

“I know, I know, now text Viktor and tell him you want to meet up tomorrow.”

“But I have a shift after my classes tomorrow.”

“No you don’t because I just officially took over for you.” Phichit grinned. “Now text him before I do.”

Not wanting to risk that, Yuuri hurriedly grabbed his phone and sent a text to Viktor, but not after correcting the ten typos he’d made.

_To: Vicchan  
So… do you maybe want to hang out tomorrow? I’m free after 3pm, if you want to_

Phichit gave Yuuri a fond pat on the head. “Such confidence. Such flirtation.”

“Shut up.”

Only a few moments later, Yuuri’s phone buzzed.

_From: Vicchan  
I’d love that!!! How about you come over to my place?? I’ll send you the address!!_

“So many exclamation points,” Phichit commented. “But you’re in! His place, how romantic~”

Yuuri blushed and pushed his best friend off the couch. “Nothing’s gonna happen! We’re just gonna talk, like you wanted.”

Laughing, Phichit let himself fall to the floor and took another slice of pizza, flicking Yuuri’s knee with his free hand. “I know, but those talks are gonna be romantic~”

It turned out that Phichit wasn’t wrong. However, in order to get to those romantic talks, Yuuri had to go through a moody 18-year-old who opened the door instead of Viktor.

“Um,” Yuuri said, thrown off track by the blond boy.

“The fuck are you?” said boy asked, raising one eyebrow.

“I’m… I’m Katsuki Yuuri, I—”

“Oh. Right. The love of Viktor’s life.” Instead of letting Yuuri in, the boy turned and shouted something in Russian, then simply left, leaving Yuuri standing there in confusion. He figured that he’d just talked to the Yuri who was now living with Viktor, but that didn’t answer the question if he was allowed to go in or not.

He was. Viktor showed up at the door mere seconds after Yuri left, almost blinding the Japanese student with his smile.

“Yuuri,” he said, and from his mouth the name almost sounded like a compliment, like an endearment, as if simply by existing Yuuri was important to him.

It almost gave Yuuri a heart attack. “Sorry, I didn’t know whether to come in or not, so…”

“Always so polite.” Viktor’s smile turned from a bright, happy one to gentle and almost caring. “Of course you can come in.” He opened the door a bit wider, then pulled a pair of slippers out of seemingly nowhere. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Trying hard not to fumble or trip, Yuuri took off his shoes and put on the slippers. “I should probably explain why I’m here.”

“Explain?” Now Viktor was confused, eyebrows furrowing. “Is there something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Yuri always tells me I come on too strongly, but I did not intend—”

“Nothing’s wrong.” It felt like the first time in his life that Yuuri had interrupted someone, but he couldn’t believe his ears. Was Viktor being insecure about talking to _him_? Viktor, who looked like _that_ and radiated confidence? “At least, not with you. I was actually going to talk about myself…”

Nodding slowly, Viktor closed the apartment’s door and led Yuuri inside, sitting him down on the couch. Yuri was nowhere to be seen. “Alright. Talk to me.”

Yuuri took a deep breath, then another one. He was about to tell a man he’d met _twice_ about his insecurities. No matter how much they talked over the phone and texted, none of those conversations had ever gotten as serious as this.

“I have no experience with relationships.”

Viktor tilted his head but didn’t say anything, so Yuuri went on. “And it appears that you do. And I think you’re very attractive and I enjoy talking to you a lot. So I was wondering… well, Phichit said that I should ask you out on a date but I’ve never done that before. My last date was with a guy who ended up saying that it was a nice evening, but he’s just not gay, so…”

That got a snort from Viktor, who shook his head. “How rude. He shouldn’t have shown up in the first place.”

“That’s what I thought! Apparently it was to test his sexuality or something, I don’t know.” Yuuri sighed, then stiffened when a hand rested on his knee.

“He was an idiot, Yuuri. If I ever meet him, I will give him a piece of my mind.”

Yuuri couldn’t help a small laugh. “I think I’d like to see that. But yeah, that’s what I wanted to tell you. I’m just… very insecure around people, especially people that are attractive. I mean, I’ve been to maybe one college party and the whole evening I didn’t talk to anyone.”

Viktor’s head shot up. The stare he gave Yuuri was intense and full of disbelief. “You… _what_?”

“What?”

For a few moments, the two of them just stared at each other, both blinking in confusion.

“You don’t remember?” Viktor said after a while, and his voice was almost heartbreakingly small.

“Remember what?”

“It was my last college party. I was about to graduate, but I really had no motivation to go into my father’s business and work until I die, especially since that’s pretty much all I did anyway. And you were there… you were so drunk, so incredibly drunk, and you started a dance battle and made me laugh and then you came over to me and told me I was pretty.” Yuuri turned red as a tomato and Viktor smiled fondly at the memory. “You said that I should stay here and visit your parents’ café and go out with you.”

“I did _what?_ ”

“It made me so happy… Are you sure you don’t remember?”

“I’m sure. I mean, I’ve always been an embarrassing drunk,” Yuuri blushed harder at his own confession, “but I don’t remember actually getting drunk at that party.”

The silence that followed was soon disturbed by Yuri, who came into the living room with his phone in one hand and a jacket in the other.

“I have photos,” he said in his deadpan voice.

“Where did you get photos!?” Yuuri blurted out, jumping out of his seat.

“Chris sent them to me.”

“Who?”

“An old friend of mine,” Viktor explained, standing up as well. There was still something about the way he spoke and held himself, something that was different from his usual cheerful self. “He was at the party too. I really… you really don’t remember… I can’t believe it.”

“He’s been pining for a year now,” Yuri explained, putting on his jacket. His words caused Viktor to blush this time, but didn’t get a response. It was strange how completely calm he acted as the other two men stood there, completely flabbergasted, trying to process what they’d just heard.

It took another few minutes before either of them moved. Yuri was still there, watching the scene unfold.

“So what you’re saying is that I made a move on you but don’t remember,” Yuuri murmured. He knew he’d probably have a meltdown over all of this later, when he was back at his place and Viktor couldn’t see him. “And…” He dug his fingernails into his palm and took a daring step forwards, both literally and metaphorically, his heart beating like crazy. ”You’re saying that you have feelings for me?”

“You were a ray of hope in my otherwise gray and boring world, Yuuri.”

“Ew.” Yuri made a face, but was ignored.

“This whole time, I was wondering if perhaps you had no interest in me after all. I was so worried, I tried not to be too creepy and show up at the café all of a sudden, but I wanted to see you again… It sounds pathetic, I know, but you had an impact on me.”

A soft smile crept onto Yuuri’s face. “It’s not pathetic.”

“Okay, I’m leaving before you two start making out,” Yuri announced, putting his phone in his pocket.

Viktor turned to face him. “Where are you going?”

“Otabek’s place.”

“What will you be doing?”

“Don’t worry, _mom_ , I’m just taking advantage of Beka’s PS4.”

Yuuri hadn’t thought that the Russian Yuri was the type for nicknames. “ _Beka?_ ”

“Not a word, Katsuki.”

And with that, Yuri was gone, leaving Viktor and Yuuri to continue staring at each other and try to figure out how on _earth_ they’d managed a misunderstanding this big.

When Yuuri came back home later that afternoon, he found a very eager and excited Phichit waiting for him, asking for every single detail. And so Yuuri told him about the party, about why Viktor had shown up out of nowhere and acted so confident. He told him about how after Yuri had left, he and Viktor went to the park and walked around, talking about more personal things. Yuuri had talked about his anxiety, Viktor about the lack of anything that wasn’t related to work in his life. They managed to have an actual, serious, _intimate_ conversation and yet Yuuri felt relaxed and comfortable.

“See? This is why you always listen to me,” Phichit said proudly after Yuuri was done. It earned him a light smack on the head, but Yuuri had to admit that his best friend was right.


End file.
